Are more environmentally sustainable diets with less meat and dairy nutritionally adequate?

Seves, S. Marije; Verkaik-Kloosterman, Janneke; Biesbroek, Sander; Temme, Elisabeth H. M.

doi:10.1017/s1368980017000763

Cited by 75 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is consistent with previous studies in Ireland [ 9 ], the Netherlands [ 7 ] and France [ 8 ]. Thus, this study provides further evidence based on self-selected diet that reducing meat consumption is likely to contribute to lower diet-related GHGE [ 2 ], as indicated in modeling studies [ 49 , 54 , 55 ]. Nevertheless, avoidance or lower intake of animal foods such as red meat may also contribute to nutritional inadequacy of several micronutrients such as iron, zinc and vitamin B-12 [ 56 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected diets in the UK and their association with diet quality: is energy under-reporting a problem?

Murakami

Livingstone

2018

Nutr J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundWhile the admittedly limited number of epidemiological findings on the association between diet-related greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) and diet quality are not always consistent, potential influence of bias in the estimation of diet-related GHGE caused by misreporting of energy intake (EI) has not been investigated. This cross-sectional study evaluated diet-related GHGE in the UK and their association with diet quality, taking account of EI under-reporting.MethodsDietary data used were from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey rolling programme 2008/2009–2013/2014, in which 4-day food diaries were collected from 3502 adults aged ≥19 years. Diet-related GHGE were estimated based on 133 food groups, using GHGE values from various secondary sources. Diet quality was assessed by the healthy diet indicator (HDI), Mediterranean diet score (MDS) and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score. EI misreporting was assessed as reported EI divided by estimated energy requirement (EI:EER).ResultsMean value of daily GHGE was 5.7 kg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq), which is consistent with those reported from a number of national representative samples in other European countries. Mean EI:EER was 0.74. Assuming that all the dietary variables were misreported in proportion to the misreporting of EI, the mean value of the misreporting-adjusted diet-related GHGE was 8.2 kg CO2eq/d. In the entire population, after adjustment for potential confounders (i.e., age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic classification, smoking status and physical activity), diet-related GHGE were inversely associated with HDI and DASH score but not with MDS. However, with further adjustment for EI:EER, diet-related GHGE showed inverse associations with all three measures of diet quality. Similar associations were observed when only under-reporters (EI:EER < 0.70; n = 1578) were analysed. Conversely, in the analysis including only plausible reporters (EI:EER 0.70–1.43; n = 1895), diet-related GHGE showed inverse associations with all diet quality measures irrespective of adjustment.ConclusionsWith taking account of EI under-reporting, this study showed inverse associations between diet-related GHGE and diet quality not only in the entire sample but also in the separate analyses of plausible reporters and under-reporters, as well as potential underreporting of diet-related GHGE.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12937-018-0338-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected diets in the UK and their association with diet quality: is energy under-reporting a problem?

Murakami

Livingstone

2018

Nutr J

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, further impact mitigation in high-income nations may be achieved by lowering the recommendations for dairy, which remains an important contributor of GHG emissions in many nations even under recommendation-compliant diets. However, although partial replacement of meat and dairy by plant-derived food sources does not substantially change the adequacy of nutrient intake ( 34 , 35 ), the extent to which this can be applied in NRDs and then extrapolated globally needs to be established. Furthermore, in high-income nations, countries with high fish intake (Mediterranean and Scandinavia) show large reductions in land use relative to other nations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the environmental impacts of dietary recommendations

Behrens

Jong

Bosker

et al. 2017

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

228

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SignificanceNationally recommended diets are a prominent method for informing the public on dietary choices. Although dietary choices drive both health and environmental outcomes, these diets make almost no reference to environmental impacts. Our study provides a comparison between the environmental impacts of average dietary intakes and a nation-specific recommended diet across 37 middle- and high-income nations. We find that following a nationally recommended diet in high-income nations results in a reduction in greenhouse gases, eutrophication, and land use. In upper-middle–income nations, we find a smaller reduction in impacts, and in lower-middle–income nations we find a substantial increase. The net result from large-scale adoption of nationally recommended diets for countries studied here results in a reduction in environmental impacts.

show abstract

“…These observations are in line with the results of our study: some individual food groups, for instance, cereals, may have an important environmental impact in Mediterranean countries because they are consumed in a higher quantity; moreover, in our study we found that consumption of meat was slightly higher among individuals with the eco-friendliest dietary habits, suggesting a general low consumption of meat (especially processed) in this population in spite of a high intake of dairy products. Interestingly, a study argued that while dietary patterns with all meat and dairy replaced with plant-based foods would lower environmental impacts, estimated intakes of zinc, thiamin, vitamins A, and B12, and probably calcium, would be below recommendations; thus, replacing 30% of the aforementioned food groups would result beneficial for saturated fatty acids, sodium, fiber, and vitamin D intakes, neutral for other nutrients, while reducing environmental impacts [50]. Notably, despite that there is agreement among current scientific literature on the topic, there are also other points of view to be considered when examining our results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Impact of Dietary Choices: Role of the Mediterranean and Other Dietary Patterns in an Italian Cohort

Grosso

Fresán

Bes–Rastrollo

et al. 2020

IJERPH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Current scientific literature suggests healthy dietary patterns may have less environmental impact than current consumption patterns, but most of the studies rely on theoretical modeling. The aim of this study was to assess the impact on resources (land, water, and energy) use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of healthy dietary patterns in a sample of Italian adults. Methods: Participants (n = 1806) were recruited through random sampling in the city of Catania, southern Italy. Dietary consumption was assessed through a validated food frequency questionnaire (FFQ); dietary patterns were calculated through dietary scores. The specific environmental footprints of food item production/processing were obtained from various available life-cycle assessments; a sustainability score was created based on the impact of the four environmental components calculated. Results: The contribution of major food groups to the environmental footprint showed that animal products (dairy, egg, meat, and fish) represented more than half of the impact on GHG emissions and energy requirements; meat products were the stronger contributors to GHG emissions and water use, while dairy products to energy use, and cereals to land use. All patterns investigated, with the exception of the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH), were linearly associated with the sustainability score. Among the components, higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet and Alternate Diet Quality Index (AHEI) was associated with lower GHG emissions, dietary quality index-international (DQI-I) with land use, while Nordic diet with land and water use. Conclusions: In conclusion, the adoption of healthy dietary patterns involves less use of natural resources and GHG emissions, representing eco-friendlier options in Italian adults.

show abstract

Are more environmentally sustainable diets with less meat and dairy nutritionally adequate?

Cited by 75 publications

References 29 publications

Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected diets in the UK and their association with diet quality: is energy under-reporting a problem?

Greenhouse gas emissions of self-selected diets in the UK and their association with diet quality: is energy under-reporting a problem?

Evaluating the environmental impacts of dietary recommendations

Environmental Impact of Dietary Choices: Role of the Mediterranean and Other Dietary Patterns in an Italian Cohort

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About